Maple Story Book 1
by whitelies
Summary: Ininja must brave hordes of monsters, real jerks, and life itself! All befor lunch. Chapter 8 is here! This is the last chapter in book 1. Book 2 coming to a... URL near you. Read and Review.
1. Ininja

Hello, and welcome to my humble Maple Story fafiction. Know that i do not own Maple Story, Wizet does that. Several characters and places (etc.) I did actually make up and are property of me! But some are real characters in Maple Story, therefor do not really belong to me.

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**Maple Story**

Chapter 1. Ininja

In the eighty-fifth year of the Maple war a human was born and named Ininja. The great Game Masters, more commonly called GMs, decided he was to fight for the human army against the monsters. No one knew this young boy would become one of the greatest Maple war heroes. This is his story; this is Maple Story.

"These are desperate times," GMd said several minutes after Ininja's birth" at the start of this war every fifth child would serve the army, but now it is every other!"

"What's worse is half of them don't even qualify for any of the three classes, this is one of them." GMq said.

"True, another one for the default, bowman. It's really a shame, warriors are strong, mages are intelligent and have lots of mana, and bowmen have a keen eye. But since many since many don't apply to any of the three classes we make them bowmen because it's standards are lowest." GMd said.

'Yes, let the archives show that Ininja shall be a bowman once the eleventh anniversary of his birth arrives" GMq said.

Eleven years later a knock was heard at the front door of Ininja's home. He bounded up to the door and opened it; on the other side was a tall man with brown hair and blue sunglasses on.

"My mom isn't here if you are looking for her" Ininja told the man.

"I'm not," the man replied, "I'm here for you."

Ininja blinked. "What did I do?"

"Nothing." The man pulled a note out of his pocket. "This note will tell your mom everything. You must come with me, I am GMd and you are to serve the human army as a bowman. The rest will be explained later, for now follow me." Ininja had heard of the GMs and knew it was best not to argue. He sadly left the house and GMd tacked the note to the door.

Ininja was born and raised in the town Amherst on Maple Island. GMd's destination was on the other side of the island in a rural place called Mushroom town. They arrived at a large dome shaped building with no windows and only one steel door at the front. As the two entered the structure Ininja noticed a large crowd of around fifty kids all around his age. He felt awkward as he sat down near the end of the single room building.

GMd walked up to the front of the room and said, "Before you begin your training we must tell you what you are fighting for. Ninety-six years ago a dark cloud began gathering over Victoria, the large continent to the east of Maple Island, after a few hours the cloud began taking a form. It became a large demon; the demon had horns, three sharp claws on each hand, a short snout, and blood red eyes. The legs never developed, in their place were a long stem connecting Shadow Barlog to the ground. The creature then said 'I am the devil of ancient times, the ruler of the underworld, I am Shadow Barlog! My monsters, rise up and destroy the humans!' At that moment the monsters flashed black and, as though they were hypnotized, began attacking the humans. Our ancestors tried to ward off the monsters, but to little avail.

"When all hope seemed lost a cleric stumbled into a very large tree, the World Tree that was planted by the first colony of humans that migrated to Victoria. Emerging from the tree was the stem of darkness that Shadow Barlog grew from. The cleric focused all of his energy into a super powerful holy arrow. The arrow hit it's target dead on. Shadow Barlog's screams of pain were heard through out Scania. His final words were 'You may have defeated me for now, but I will return as long as there is evil in this world! The monsters hereby declare war on the humans!' With that he vanished. We have been fighting ever since." There GMd's voice trailed off. "All of you, form a single file line in front of the door!"

When Ininja reached the door GMd handed him a map of maple Island and a sword, he then told Ininja to hunt snails until he is strong enough to go to Victoria and hunt stronger monsters; at that time go to South Perry and talk to Captain Shanks who runs the boat.

Ininja stepped outside and noticed a crowd. Curious, he approached it and asked, "what's going on?"

"Emo is slaying red snails!' someone replied.

"Emo? I think I remember him… he was that jerk from a couple years ago!"

"Warriors, like me, are obviously the best class," Emo bragged, "We don't rely on cheap magic like magicians. And we don't hide behind rocks shooting sticks like those cowardly bowmen!"

After that remark Ininja gritted his teeth and said, "If you're so great, prove it!" Emo glared at Ininja and swung at him with an axe. Ininja reflexively dropped to the ground and cut Emo in the stomach. As he was walking away he said, "It's called Karma, and she just swung her metal bat right down on your head!"

An hour later a boy walked up to Ininja and said, "I saw you beat that jerk, Emo. I'm Lunarboy."

"Hi I'm Ininja"

"Well I better leave you to your training"

"Want to train together? It goes faster with more than one person"

"Sure!"

After much training the two were ready to go to Victoria, so they headed to South Perry to meat Shanks.


	2. Boats

Here is chapter 2! Not quite as long as chapter 1.I still don't own MS...

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Chapter 2. Boats

Ininja and Lunarboy were walking down the winding road towards South Perry. The sun was directly above their heads, noon.

"I can see my hometown now, Amherst!" Ininja announced, "I can't wait to see my friends and mother!"

"You know as well as I do you can't." Lunarboy replied, "If you do you'll never leave!"

"You're right… it's just that I never got to say goodbye…"

"I know how you feel. Both my parents have been dead for a month."

Ininja's eyes widened. "And I thought my predicament sucked!"

"It's okay, we never really spent time together anyway. But I grew up In South Perry, which is more populated because it is a big docking port. So I had plenty of friends"

At this point the two came to fork in the road, referred to as The Split Road to the Maple Island residence. This fork leads to Amherst in the East and South Perry in the South. The two headed south towards the harbor. After about an hour they got to a paved road, they had reached South Perry!

The two sighed in relief; their journey was over, now they only needed to buy tickets for Captain Shank's ship, "The Victoria"

"So, any idea where this Shanks is?" Ininja asked Lunarboy.

"Yes; he is at the right hand side of the harbor, usually secluded from the other boats." Lunarboy replied.

Several minutes later they got to "The Victoria" and purchased their tickets. Since the boat didn't leave for an hour, Lunarboy showed Ininja around the town. When they got to a small diner Lunarboy had eaten at so much he had made friends with the clerks a man shoved them out of the way and entered.

"Well that was rude!" Lunarboy said.

"Are we going to yell at him?" Ininja asked.

"You bet"

The two stomped into the diner, only to find the man was in bad condition. He head bruises all over and torn cloths, his hair was messed up and burnt slightly; he looked as if he lost something close to him.

"So is he a hobo?" Ininja whispered to Lunarboy.

"From the looks of it, no!" Lunarboy whispered a little too loudly.

"No what?" the man barked at the boys. 'You need to learn respect and whatnot!"

The two scurried away to a nearby table, close enough to eavesdrop.

"What'll you have?" The waiter asked the man.

"Just coffee, I doubt I have the strength to swallow any real food"

"That'll be 50 mesos. May I ask what happened to you?"

"Yes, but I'm not going to stop so if you're not going anywhere soon…"

"I'm not. Coffee over here!"

"I'm, well was, the captain of "The Fairy". The boat that sails, sailed, to the continent Ossyria."

"But…"

"But we were attacked!"

"By what?"

"I don't really know what to call it… thank you," the captain said to another waiter who handed him his order. "It was a great beast, larger than a man! The demon had horns, three sharp claws on each hand, a short snout, blood red eyes, wings, and a skull as a helmet. It ambushed us on a spiked vessel, flying alongside our ship, and rammed us! The beast boarded our ship and began attacking our passengers and crew. Strong Maplers on their way to Orbis tried o fend of the monster, but failed. The creature created dark colored lighting and killed everyone! I am the only survivor; even our ship was annihilated. I managed this by falling to the ocean after the beast turned himself against me. Luckily I fell near Florina Beach. I was unconscious when the natives saw me drifted on the shore. There is no hospital there, so the transported me to Victoria where I was treated."

"Not well I see"

"I refused to stay there long, the bill rose much too fast. I ended up on a ship to here to look for work."

"Didn't that monster he described sound like… what's it called…that Barlog thing the GMs told us about?" Lunarboy whispered to Ininja.

"It did! Could it have returned like it said?" Ininja replied.

"Maybe, but for now we shouldn't worry about it as our ship will be here soon. Shanks is real persnickety when it comes to punctuality" Lunarboy hurriedly said as he and Ininja darted back to the docks.

Once they boarded "The Victoria" it took off. After several seconds of sailing on the water it lifted into the air, which made Ininja and Lunarboy motion sick. Nothing attacked them on their way to Victoria!


	3. Departure and Betrayal

Here you go guys! chapter 3! Finally, we're in Victoria! Now what? No, I still don't own MS. I'm going to stop saying that now...

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Ininja and Lunarboy inhaled the salty ocean breeze as they stepped off "The Victoria" onto the paved ground of Lith Harbor.

"So we're here! Now what?" Ininja said.

"I suppose we head to the town where our job advancement is." Lunarboy said. He pulled out a map of Victoria Island that was given to him and Ininja on the boat. "According to this you need to go to Henesys, and I need to go to Ellinia. If we keep heading southeast we will eventually reach Henesys, and beyond that is Ellinia. So you'll stop at Henesys while I go on."

"Sounds like a deal" Ininja replied. Ininja saw a weapon shop. "You have spare mesos? We could get a better weapon."

"Why not?" The two entered the store. Browsing the shelves Ininja came across a short dagger.

"How much for this?" he asked the clerk.

"Five hundred mesos for the field dagger" The clerk said, caught up in a book.

"I'll take it!"

"I got spare mesos, I'll get one too!" Lunarboy said. The two purchased the daggers and headed southeast.

"On your left!" Lunarboy shouted. Ininja turned left and stabbed his dagger into a blue snail, which writhed in pain and toppled over. Lunarboy swung his field dagger down on a green snail, but it sunk back into its shell in time.

Ininja and Lunarboy had stumbled into a large snail nest near Lith harbor. The snails hadn't liked two human busting into their home.

"Red and blue on your right!" Ininja yelled. Lunarboy swung sideways and removed the eyestalks of the snails. The previous green snail lunged at him, but he held up his field dagger in time and the snail was cut in half.

"We're not fairing to well! They outnumber us by too much!" Lunarboy said in a panic

As if on cue a storm of lightning flooded the area, slaughtering all the snails. A magician jumped down from a ledge and said "Glad I came along eh? If not you'd be snail food, quite literally!"

"Yeah, thanks." Ininja said between gasps.

"How did you do that?" Lunarboy asked.

"It's a second job magician skill, from the ice/lightening wizard type" The wizard replied. "I should be going now, my friend is expecting me in Kerning City" with that the wizard teleported away.

"I take it you'll be that strong soon?" Ininja asked.

"Looks like it." Lunarboy replied.

"We should get going too if we want to advance!"

"You're right! According to the map we are at 'The Three Way Road Split'."

"The what?"  
"Apparently it's a three way split from Lith Harbor in the west, Kerning City in the north, and Henesys in the east. We still have a way to go!"

Ininja sighed, "Will it never end?" the two trudged onward.

The change of scenery from Lith Harbor to Henesys was remarkable; the salty breeze turned to clear meadow air, the concrete turned to grass, and the bricks to wood. The two walked around the town in awe, even South Perry wasn't this big! The two passed many people, both natives to Henesys and traveling Maplers

"Wow! This is the bowman town?" Lunarboy half shouted.

"So it is," Ininja answered the rhetorical question.

"Well I suppose this is where we part?" Lunarboy said, breaking the trance.

"I suppose so…"

"I'll be seeing you" Lunarboy began walking away.

"I keeping you to that!" Ininja shouted.

"You better!" Lunarboy shouted over his shoulder. Ininja gulped, he was hoping they would meet again soon.

Ininja wandered around Henesys looking for Athena Pierce's house, the head bowman, who would teach him the way of the bowman. While searching he ran into (literally) a boy slightly older than him garbed entirely black.

"Excuse me" Ininja apologized.

"No it was my fault." the boy said and helped Ininja up. "I'm called Peregrine"

"Thanks, I'm Ininja. I'm on my way to be a bowman," noticing Peregrine's cloths he said, "You look like a Mapler, what job?"

"You've never heard of it… it's in fact a new installment called thief."

"A new job? Why haven't I heard about this?"

"Don't tell anyone but… I broke into the GM archives. There I found a new class that was rejected. I liked it so I tricked the GMs into installing it."

"Wow. Thief you said?"

"Yeah, in fact you look like a good one. I'm surprised you are to be a bowman…. It was probably another default."  
"…"

" You see, the newborns don't always qualify for any of the (previous) three jobs, so the chose bowman to be the default.'"

Ininja ground his teeth together; the GMs had made a huge mistake. Remembering Emo he said, "I'm going to be a thief!"

"What! You can't just go against GM orders! Well I did, but that's beside the point!"

"You think I care? The GMs made people jobist against the bowmen!"

"Well if you feel that strongly go to Kerning City and talk to Dark Lord."

" Thanks!" Ininja shouted as he ran back in the direction he came; the way to Kerning City.

"Well you're welcome." Peregrine said.

Ininja grinned to himself with the knowledge he was going to shun the GM's bad decisions.

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Boy, that Ininja is a real rebel! XD


	4. The L Forest

Well I finally got chapter 4 here! So you know: Hvonru is a weird name. You have to figure out what the "hv" sound is like. His name is pronounced HV-on-ru (ru rhyms with you)

I don't own MS or Ininja(sicnce he is one of my MS characters), but i do own Hvonru(since I just mde him up!)!

-Whitelies

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Ininja leaned up against one of the columns of earth jetting from the ground, which were common in the area around Kerning City. He had been walking for hours through the maze of a forest. The sun burned directly above his head, and there were no clouds.

_This is torture! I'll dehydrate before I get to Kerning! _He thought

Ininja heard a rustle behind him. He pulled out his field dagger, ready to confront anything headed towards him. A large, orange-capped mushroom jumped out from behind a bush, and saw Ininja. The mushroom pounced toward him.

Ininja slashed at it in mid-air, but since the mushroom was big and heavy Ininja slammed against a column. Dirt broke off the column and fell on Ininja's head. Ininja picked himself up just in time to see the mushroom infuriated and charging toward him. Ininja instinctively dove out of the way and the mushroom rammed into the column, knocking it over.

The mushroom recovered from the impact and sprung into the air with intent to crush Ininja beneath its weight. Ininja rolled out of the way and slashed at the monster as it fell to the ground. He managed to cut off the mushroom's lower half, mutilating the beast.

Ininja stood up and grasped his dagger with the blade pointing downward. He shoved his weapon into his foe's forehead, killing it.

Ininja pulled out his field dagger, pleased with himself. He wiped the mushroom sludge off his dagger on the grass. The battle left him tired and even thirstier than before.

_I need to find a god body of water and some shelter from the sun, or I won't live through another attack_! Ininja thought. He scanned the area, looking for something. All he saw was the maze of columns. It wasn't much of a forest, really. There were very few trees, making it more of a meadow. But the columns of dirt made it seem like a forest; hence its name: the L-forest.

The columns had been formed by magic in the ancient times, for what purpose no one knew. Now their only purpose seemed to be to slow down monster movement and make it harder for people to get to Kerning City.

Ininja felt a searing pain in the back of his neck; the sun's heat was burning his skin. He lightly touched his flaky skin; a burning sensation filled his neck. Ininja held back a scream. He collapsed onto the ground and dug his fingers into the ground.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ininja saw a column that had fallen onto another one, making a small shelter from the sun. He crawled under it and sat leaning against the column that was still standing. Ininja, tired from the fight, fell asleep within minutes.

When Ininja awoke the sun was just setting. He seized the opportunity to get to Kerning City without the worry of the sun's heat. Ininja moved swiftly to get as far as he could before it was too dark to see. Without light he ran into a lot of columns

He kept his pace up until dawn came, at which point he saw Kerning City in the distance. Well rather, he saw a huge cloud of smoke with some buildings occasionally appearing in between puffs of smoke.

_It's like on big town of pollution! _Ininja thought. But what he saw next was even more surprising. A little ways away was someone in a white robe and blue hat. He held a short stick in his hand and was examining a platform that looked to be suspended in mid-air.

Ininja ran toward the person and asked, "What is that?"

"Well it's just what it looks like: a floating platform!" the boy replied.

"But how is it flying?"

"It's the remnants of magic from long ago. In ancient times magic was used much more, for everyday tasks. Nowadays the only magic users are Maplers; therefore the only magic is attacks such as Magic Claw. But it can, in truth, be used for a wider variety of things."

"Wow, I didn't know that"

"Yup, and that's why I'm studying this, to learn how to use magic more! Excuse me; I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Hvonru, a cleric."

"I am Ininja; I'm going to Kerning City to be a thief."

Hvonru looked around the forest, and then said, "Need an escort? The way only gets harder from here"

"Sure, at the rate I've been going I won't make it there any time soon."

"Follow me, and don't worry about monsters" Hvonru weaved through the columns swiftly, killing any monster that got in his way with a spell called Magic Claw that tears its target to pieces.

When they were almost out of the L-Forest they noticed a large cluster of orange mushrooms blocking the way. Hvonru motioned for Ininja to stay where he was and to be quiet. Hvonru pulled out his wand and swung it, a mushroom exploded in a burst of blue light. The other monsters lunged toward the cleric. Hvonru destroyed another one just before three rammed into him, knocking him several feet behind Ininja.

Hvonru became engulfed in green light for a brief moment, and then jumped back toward the oncoming mushrooms. He slaughtered a few more mushrooms. Suddenly a mushroom lunged at Hvonru from behind. He barely turned around when the beast struck him in the head, knocking him down. Hvonru pulled out a scroll and tossed it into the air. Ininja caught it and saw a strange symbol on it.

Hvonru pulled out another one and said, "Quick! Use it! Tear it in half!" Ininja and Hvonru tore their scroll in half. A burst of blue light emitted from the scrolls. All the colors Ininja saw were blended together, the world spun around him.

Now he was moving. Column after column shot passed him. Ininja felt dizzy. In a second bricks and paving filled his vision. Ininja shot through buildings and walls. Suddenly clusters of people appeared and whizzed by. Then it was over. Blackness. Nothing.

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Ooooh! Clifhanger!


	5. Welcome to the Minority

Hi! It's me! To anyone who has read this far: way to go you! So far I have a lack of reviews for this story… but I'm hoping to get some soon! So here is is: the fifth installment of Maple Story!

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Ininja felt a sharp pain in his side. He pried his eyes open. He was lying face down on a paved staircase in Kerning City. He flipped himself over onto his back. His eyes blurred into focus. Hvonru helped him up.

"You get used to scroll travel after a while," Hvonru said "I didn't want to have to use those, they were my last two. I suppose I'll just have to get some new ones!"  
"I can't breath." Ininja gasped.

"That would be the pollution, you get used to that too."

Ininja studied his surroundings, mostly tall, brick buildings. A sign flickered that said _Fusion Bar Jazz._ Maplers and non-Maplers passed by. A particularly large crowd was gathered around three sewage holes and a woman holding a staff, most of them were yelling word Ininja couldn't make out. His breathing began to return to him.

"I'm here, now what?"

"You said you were going to be a thief right?" Ininja nodded "Then you need to see Dark Lord. His hide out is actually in the _Fusion Bar Jazz_. Go to the restroom; a sign will say they are out of order though. The toilet is actually a ladder to the basement; Dark Lord is there. I doubt that's his real name."

"Thanks, how do you know that?"

"I've met a lot of people. While you are in there I'll see about getting you some proper cloths!"

"Wow, thanks!"

Hvonru walked away; Ininja cautiously stepped into the _Fusion Bar Jazz_, a foul stench welcomed him. He descended down the staircase. The room consisted of the counter, some tattered stool in front, a few tables, and a wall behind the counter with bottles on it. All of these were blue. No one was in the building, or so it seemed. Ininja entered the room labeled rest room.

There was only one, filthy, toilet. Ininja gagged. He peered down the bowl to find a rope was attached to its side. The rope lowered down to another floor. Ininja held his breath and began climbing down the rope. When he got below the toilet he jumped to the ground and exhaled.

A raised platform lay in front of him, but no one was in sight. He stepped onto the platform. "Hello? Anyone around?" he called. There was no answer. He couldn't shake the feeling someone was watching him.

"You'll never become a thief if you can't even see me!" a voice called. Startled, Ininja looked toward the ceiling where the voice came from. A man was standing upside down on the ceiling! Much like Peregrine, the man was dressed in all black except for a red scarf. "Are you that surprised to see me on the ceiling? You really aren't cut out to be a thief!"

"Are you Dark Lord?" Ininja stammered.

"That would be me!" Dark Lord jumped down. "I take it you're here to become a thief?" Ininja nodded. "Then you have a lot of work to do. First things first," Dark lord reached over to a desk and pulled out a box, "you'll need a weapon." The box contained a large glove and a short dagger. "The garnier, the glove, allows you to throw stars from afar. That is the path of an assassin. The triangular zamadar is for head to head combat, this is the path of a bandit. Once you choose you can not turn back, so pick wisely!"

Ininja hesitated. He picked up the zamadar. "You are sure of this decision?" Ininja nodded. "Then welcome to the minority" Dark Lord grinned"

"What do you mean?" Ininja asked.

"There's a ratio of about 1:5 of bandits to assassins." Dark Lord said. Before Ininja could ask why Dark Lord answered, "They're all cowards who are too lazy to get up and fight head to head! I admire you for being original," Dark Lord clasped his hand on Ininja's shoulder; Ininja shrank back. "I too am a bandit, I will show you the way of us" Ininja began to question the level of Dark Lord's sanity.

Dark Lord whipped out a short dagger and said, "Come at me! I want to test your skills!" Ininja hesitated, but lunged at Dark Lord. He, unexpectedly, was considerably faster than when he fought that orange mushroom in the L- Forest. He went too fast which threw him off balance, and Dark Lord struck Ininja in the chest with his fist. Ininja smashed his face on the ground. "You need to work on control" Dark Lord said much calmer than before. "On that note, I leave you on your own. Continue training and improving your skill and such. I recommend learning Double Stab first." Ininja got to his feet. "Train on like slimes or something. Just don't die"

Ininja grasped back onto the rope and pulled himself up. Dark Lord called out as Ininja reached the upper floor, "Use your speed to your advantage. I see much potential in you."

Ininja held back saying "And I see almost none in you! Thanks for nothing!" But he left the bar quietly.

The outside light filled Ininja's eyes as he stepped out. The familiar scent of oil filled his nostrils, but he was used to that by now. He felt fresh and renewed. Much stronger than when he had first entered the bar.

_I better find Hvonru first._ Ininja thought and headed to his right.


	6. A Contract For Revenge

'Tis I again! Welcome to chapter six in my Maple Story! This chapter is (semi) intentionally short. And Emo's name is just a name, not a personality.

Legal stuff : I don't own MS or Niora Hospital. I also _technicaly_ don't own Akuyoko as he is a real game character. Emo and Hier I own.

So on with the show!**

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**

**Ch. 6 A contract for revenge**

Emo was lying on his bed. The only light in the room came from the spaces between the blinds on the window beside his bed. He impatiently drummed his fingers on the mattress. Finally he got up; this was difficult due to the bandages wrapped around his stomach.

He pulled two blinds apart and looked out. A teenaged girl with yellow wavy hair that reached just above her thighs was walking toward Niora Hospital, where Emo was. Following behind her was a boy with white hair that naturally spiked up. The two disappeared into the building. Before Emo dropped the blinds he spotted someone else. A short boy with brown hair that was matted down from being unwashed stepped out of a building labeled _Fusion Bar Jazz_. The boy glanced to either side of him, and then darted off to his right. Emo jumped back into his bed at the sound of talking outside his room. The two people from outside entered.

"Emo? You here?" The girl asked.

"Where would I have gone Hier?" Emo half yelled.

"Well I don't know!" she replied.

"Sorry, I'm a little testy today. You've brought him?"

"Of course. Emo, this is Akuyoko."

"Are you ready to hear my proposition Akuyoko?"

"So long as you have the money" Akuyoko replied.

"Yes, I have the money. As the heir to a vast fortune, I have plenty of mesos."

"Good. So who is it you want me to kill?"

"A boy named Ininja"


	7. The Road To Perion

So here I am with the seventh installment of my story. Still in need of reviews, of course. Although I do have two from I-Am-Erk, I hope for more people to review.

I have to admit, this chapter is rather short. This is because I am lazy, and this chapter has almost nothing to do with the plot, and serves as a bridge between chapters 6 and 8. Wait, there's a plot? Sort of, I have something in mind at least.

I own no maple stuff and stuff. So, on with the show.

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Ch. 7 The Road To Perion

Ininja lunged forward with his zamadar in his outstretched hand. Pushing all his weight into the thrust his dagger plunged into the stump's eye. The monster let out a yelp of pain and fell to the ground, dead. A small twig fell off the stump, still in tact. Ininja picked it up and put it in a pouch with all the other spoils left behind by monsters he slew on his way to Perion. According to his map, he still had a way to go. A few hours, he estimated. In reality the path was as long as Kerning was from the 3-Way Road Split, but without the maze-like L-Forest in the way it was much shorter.

Back at Kerning Hvonru left on his own journey, after giving Ininja clothes best suited for a rouge in training. Ininja decided to go with what Dark Lord said and hunt slimes. Due to having few mesos he decided to walk rather than use a scroll or taking a cab. Besides, he needs the training.

The path to Perion is very rocky and mountainous. Perion itself is set on a cliffside on the tallest mountain in the middle of the area. Ininja figured it would strengthen his legs to climb, rather than take the defined path made by travelers. But this proved easier said than done, and Ininja noticed is hands were bruised when he sat down to rest. He decided to take the main trail instead.

After walking a little over half an hour Ininja had run only into stumps. He'd gotten so used to fighting them he could take them out in one hit. His little luck streak would soon end when an axe stump appeared. Ininja was feeling confident about taking on the axe stump, after all it was just a beefed up stump. He knew it had all the same weaknesses, but was considerably more aggressive.

Ininja ran toward his foe and thrust his dagger at the monster's solitary eye. But the stump lunged itself forward and the dagger hit the axe lodged in the stump. The monster hit Ininja in the chest, knocking him back and sending his dagger flying. Ininja jumped to his weapon a few feet away from him. He gripped it tighter but his wounded hands made it difficult. Cringing in pain he jumped at the monster again and managed to make a small nick in the creature. This only made it angrier. The stump charged at Ininja, throwing him off the road. Luckily he landed on an outcropping with only minimal damage. The monster jumped of the road in pursuit to finish Ininja off, but the shock from landing slowed it down. Just long enough for Ininja to jump at it and get a grip on the handle of the creature's axe. Ininja put his foot on the stump and dislodged the axe from its grip. The stump stopped.

Ininja stood with the axe at his side, ready to start hacking away at his foe. But rather than attacking, the stump walked away. Puzzled, Ininja watched the stump go. He set the axe down where he was and picked his zamadar up.

Ininja jumped back up to the road and continued along the trail with only plain stumps in his way.


	8. Heartless

Here it is, chapter 8. The final chapter in book 1.

Legal stuff: I don't own Maple Story. Short and to the point!

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Ch. 8 Heartless

Akuyoko crouched down on the rock, surveying the ground below him. He'd been up there for a few hours since he "scrolled" to Perion. A boy with brown hair stepped into the town from the western side. Akuyoko perked up, this was Ininja.

Ininja stepped into a tent with a sign that said "Potions". Inside was a man standing over a large bubbling pot and a young girl about his age in the far end.

"Is this the potion shop?" Ininja asked.

"That's what it says on the sign, isn't it?" The man said not looking up from the pot.

"Right, right. Well I would like twenty red potions"

"Are you going to get them?"

"What? Oh. Yes."

Ininja handed the man the mesos and, in return, received a bag with glass bottles filled with a red liquid.

Ininja stepped out of the tent and took a drink of the potion. A sudden burst of energy filled his body and his wounds didn't hurt as much anymore. He finished the bottle and tossed the glass on the ground. The container vanished on contact with the ground. Ininja put the bag away and started walking towards the eastern exit of Perion.

Akuyoko made his move.

The white-haired boy jumped down from his perch and landed in front of Ininja.

"Excuse me" Ininja said.

"Shut up!" Akuyoko pulled out his wand, "Get out your weapon!"

"What is this?"

"Or would you rather I just kill you now?"

"Who are you?"

"Akuyoko, a bounty hunter. You may remember Emo? He's put a nice reward on your head, away from your body"

" What the?"

Akuyoko swung his wand and an orb of blue energy shot out from it. It hit Ininja in the chest, knocking him down. He quickly got up and drew his dagger.

Ininja swung at Akuyoko vertically, but Akuyoko parried his attack and shot another bolt. Ininja ducked to avoid the attack and slashed upward, Akuyoko blocked the attack. Akuyoko Swung at Ininja with intense force, pulling his foe's dagger out of his hands and sending it off to the side.

"Why does that keep happening?" Ininja said.

Akuyoko jumped back and began firing rounds of Magic Bolts at Ininja. Ininja desperately ran from side to side avoiding the bolts, but he wasn't fast enough and one flew directly at him while he was off balance. Ininja quickly pulled out a potion and blocked the attack with it. The container exploded, sending shards of glass in all directions, some cutting Ininja. He hastily dove toward his weapon and rolled to the side when he grabbed it. Ininja jumped toward Akuyoko and thrust his weapon down. Akuyoko caught it with his wand.

"What exactly are you doing this for? Do you really want the mesos that bad?" Ininja asked.

"Please, I could care less about the mesos!" Akuyoko replied.

"Then what?"

"Hm… I really don't know"

"What?"

Akuyoko threw Ininja Away from him.

"So what, you're trying to kill me for the fun of it?"

"… What do you care?" Akuyoko shot a bolt at Ininja.

Suddenly a man with dark brown hair and blue sunglasses pooped up and blocked the bolt with a large mallet. "Break it up you two!" He shouted, "You're on the same side! Save it for the monsters!"

"Emo's going to be mad. Whatever." Akuyoko mumbled as he walked away.

"What were you two fighting about?" the man asked Ininja.

"I have no idea" Ininja replied. "Wait a minute, aren't you GMd?"

"Yeah, you are…"

"Ininja"

"Well I guess you owe me one huh? Saving you and all"

"Wha- Oh. Haha."

"Well I got to go. GM business and whatnot."

"What business?"

"They have doughnuts in the HQ"

"Oh"

"So what was that about?" Ininja asked as he stepped behind the white-haired boy. The two were on the rock Akuyoko was on a few hours before.

"Emo paid me to kill you"

"That much I figured out, but why did you do it?"

"Back at the orphanage, where I grew up, I had a reputation for being cruel and heartless. That just sort of stuck with me."

"You lost control?"

"You could put it like that. But I'm done now."

"What are you doing to do?"

"All I can do. Fight the monsters."

"Good luck"

"Same to you"

End Of Book 1

* * *

So book 1 is over and book two is coming soon. So you know book two skips ahead in time to right before Ininja is ready to make the second job advancementto bea bandit. 


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